‘Naxalism will be completely eradicated by March 31’: Amit Shah after Raipur security review

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Centre’s strategy against Left-Wing Extremism has started delivering clear results and asserted that Naxalism will be fully eradicated before March 31. He made the remarks after chairing a high-level security review meeting in Raipur, weeks ahead of the government’s stated deadline. Sharing details of the meeting on X, Shah said a mix of security-focused operations, infrastructure expansion, disruption of Maoist funding channels and an effective surrender policy had significantly weakened the insurgency.“Today in Raipur, I held a review meeting with the Chhattisgarh government and officials on anti-Naxal operations. The security-centric strategy, infrastructure development, targeting of the Naxal financial network and the surrender policy have yielded positive results, and Naxalism will be completely eradicated before March 31,” Shah wrote.The meeting, held at a hotel in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, was attended by Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, the Union home secretary, the director of the Intelligence Bureau and the special secretary (internal security) in the ministry of home affairs.Senior security leadership was also present, including the directors general of the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and the NIA. Top police officials from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Telangana also took part in the discussions.Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, which includes seven districts and shares borders with Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, has traditionally been regarded as the strongest base of Maoist activity.However, intensified anti-Naxal operations over the past few years have considerably weakened the movement in the region, according to officials.Since January 2024, security forces have made major gains in Chhattisgarh. More than 500 Naxalites have been killed in encounters, including senior CPI (Maoist) leader and general secretary Nambala Keshava Rao, also known as Basavaraju, according to police data cited by news agency PTI.During the same period, around 1,900 Naxalites were arrested and over 2,500 surrendered in the state, highlighting what the Centre describes as the combined impact of sustained operations and rehabilitation measures.